


A Doll to Fight For You

by DREAMi_Girl



Category: K-pop, MBLAQ, VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Bipolar Disorder, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Past Abuse, Summoning, voodoo doll AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 07:54:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5997748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DREAMi_Girl/pseuds/DREAMi_Girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chanu Academy is a prestigious school for Summoners, humans with bloodline contracts to creatures from an alternate dimension which can be called upon to battle and compete for fame. Acceptance into Chanu Academy is based on bloodlines and outstanding ability. Seo Jimin has the bloodlines... but lacks a contract with any Summons. Navigating Chanu is going to be difficult if she doesn't find a partner fast - and maintaining one may be even harder.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Doll to Fight For You

_Seo Jimin,_

 

_Chanu Academy is pleased to inform you of your acceptance for the approaching school year. We congratulate you for excelling in your entrance examinations and we are greatly anticipating your arrival._

 

_Included in the package containing your uniform, you will find several pamphlets outlining campus life and extracurricular activities to enrich your time with us –_

 

Jimin tossed the letter on the couch with a quiet huff, having read it enough times to recite it from memory and yet still going over it anxiously. She tugged at the hem of her pleated skirt. It felt much too short and she longed for the blue jeans she had tucked away in her dresser drawers.

 

Chanu Academy's uniform would be the death of her – that is, if she couldn't get some of the slacks offered to both sexes from the supply store as soon as possible.

 

Her roommate grinned at her fidgeting. Aera lounged on the sofa, seeming quite comfortable with her own wardrobe.

 

Jimin gave her and her crisp black pants the stink-eye. _Lucky girl._

 

Skirts were never her area of expertise, too loose and breezy to offer Jimin any sense of security or comfort. _Too dangerous,_ her father liked to splutter before going off about how _'pants are so much better'_ or _'Jiminnie don't ever wear a skirt you could be taken advantage of boys are awful don't date either'_. Jimin avoided skirts for his nerves – and her own. (Some of those rants made sense.)

 

“I'm gonna spend the entire day worrying about this thing flying up in the wind or bunching up in the back and me not noticing. Oh goodness, what if I end up flashing everyone? This is a nightmare.” Jimin whined, twirling in front of the mirror in the living room and wincing at the way her skirt fluttered.

 

What if it blew up like some horrible reincarnation of Marilyn Monroe's? She would die of embarrassment.

 

She truly hoped she could avoid a wardrobe malfunction at least, considering that it was almost certain she would be facing utter humiliation at some point in the day.

 

Jimin nervously ran her hands over the pleated fabric once more and sighed before rushing down the short hallway back to her bedroom.

 

Being an esteemed private academy, one with copious amounts of funding and donations from fond alumni, Chanu Academy possessed rather extravagant housing for what was: a high school. (Private but still, a high school.)

 

There were seven dormitory buildings along the southern part of campus, each made of the same white brick as the main buildings but with slightly slanted roofs to make them seem more like a traditional house and less likely to be confused with the main buildings. Six of these buildings were four floored, each floor having ten 'apartments' for the students who lived on campus.

 

Jimin and her roommate had moved into their apartment the previous day, room 6B of **Ivy Hall** , one of the three female dormitories. Behind Ivy Hall were the two sister dorms, **Gladiolus** and **Statice**. The boys' dorms ( **Delphinium, Rose, Daffodil** ) were separated from the girls by the **Professors' Hall** and the long, thorny hedge that ran on either side of the middle building until it met the high wall that encircled the entire campus.

 

Any frisky students who wanted to sneak out to see a significant other from the other side would have to risk getting cut up by the hedge or being caught by a professor – or both.

 

(“So don't even think about it.” one of the prefects had warned.)

 

The seventh building, and only potential co-ed, was located behind the Professors' Hall. Potential because **Azalea Hall** only housed one student, a third year girl who was the school's pride and joy.

 

Azalea Hall was built specifically for a special kind of student, one rarely found among the normal population of the Academy.

 

Normal meaning each student had only one **Summons**.

 

Summons came in any number of forms and were defined in their world as sentient being who enter a binding contract with a **Summoner** , a human with the ability to open a sort of 'doorway' to an alternate dimension where the Summons originated.

 

Upon entering a contract with a human, the Summons becomes a constant companion to the one who calls them and agrees to fight and defend their Summoner in battle – or, as modern situations called for, competitive matches.

 

On average, each Summoner maintained a one-on-one contract with their Summons, as calling more required copious amounts of energy from the Summoner.

 

Azalea Hall was reserved for those who presented larger reserves and contracts with multiple Summons.

 

Chanu Academy was fortunate enough to have a Summoner with not one, not _two,_ but _**three**_ Summons.

 

_It must be nice,_ Jimin thought as she pulled on a pair of athletic shorts beneath her skirt, _to have a bedroom bigger than a closet._

 

Her own was not overly small, but it felt rather crowded with all the large pieces of furniture shoved in there.

 

A mahogany dresser was pressed against the wall, the edge of it just barely falling short of the door-frame. Opposite it was her bed, a bunk-bed with a wooden frame built into an alcove, one end snug against the wall and the other against the box-like protrusion that was the corner closet. A few feet away from that was a desk with a rolling chair tucked beneath it, leaving just enough room to pull the door open without hitting anything.

 

If Jimin sat in her chair and pushed off the wall with just an ounce of her strength, she could easily make it to any of the other walls.

 

Jimin sighed, scuffing her toes against the fuzzy rug beside her bed and turned her eyes to the top bunk, where her Summons was meant to sleep.

 

A bare mattress sat there, looking cold and mocking, devoid of any signs of life.

 

Of any Summons.

 

 

_My name is Seo Jimin and I'm a second year transfer at Chanu Academy._

 

_Today is my first day and, well, I'm kind of anxious. A **lot** anxious._

 

_You see, Chanu is renowned for having students from excellent Summoning Lines and powerful Summons._

 

_I've got the bloodline part down... but **no** Summons._

 

_Talk about someone who's out of place._

 

“Hey, isn't that Grand Mistress Seo's granddaughter?”

 

“Which one?”

 

“The short one – there!”

 

“She's the only grand kid, right? I bet she's strong.”

 

“Everyone from the Seo family is strong and has powerful Summons. I wonder what kind she has?”

 

“Wow, she's short.”

 

Jimin slumped down at her desk, attempting to hide a bit from the curious stares and whispers.

 

Being in the corner desk closest to the door offered the other students a chance to stare at her with little trouble and the attention was unbearable.

 

She had trouble deciding whether or not she was glad her Practical Lessons, the class where the Summoner-Summons teams participated in physical events, took place after lunch.

 

For half of the day, she would at least be able to hide her lack of a partner, but the constant reminder that she was not living up to her family's standards was grating on her nerves.

 

Her entire family and now the students at Chanu were expecting such great things from her and, by nightfall, everyone would know of her short-comings.

 

(“Gran, I don't think Chanu is a good idea for me – I mean, I don't even have a Summons...”

 

“Then you'd better figure out how to summon one soon. Every Seo before you has gone to the Academy – you're not going to tarnish that good record.” her grandmother had scoffed.)

 

“Quiet, class.” the teacher commanded as she strode into the room, causing a curtain of silence to fall over the students. She frowned at the teens until the few students who were still trying to get a good look at Jimin settled back into their seats. “I am your history professor, Reyer Boram. Be warned that anyone who attempts to slack off in my class will receive no sympathies from me. So listen well. Now... let's get started.”

 

Jimin sat up straight, shoulders relaxing once all eyes were on the teacher and not her.

 

She decided that she quite liked Professor Reyer and made a serious effort to pay attention to the lesson.

 

At the very least, the woman's intimidating presence would be enough to keep gossip and chatter to a minimum for fifty minutes a day. Jimin had never considered herself a teacher's pet, but if things went completely sour, she might just become a history enthusiast and spend her free time around the no-nonsense professor.

 

The same intimidating aura did not seem to belong to Jimin's next two professors.

 

Adam Hodges (or Hodges Adam), the English professor, was a tall man with wild hair and a rather nervous disposition. He did not sit down once during the entire fifty minutes and seemed to vibrate on the spot if he stood in one place too long.

 

A student sneezed and Professor Hodges jumped so hard that he knocked over a podium.

 

On the other hand, Professor Paek was the opposite. He was a very relaxed man with droopy eyelids and he was barely taller than Jimin (which was saying something), but he had a very loud voice that caught the students' attention. The man had a very casual teaching method and wandered around the room instead of sticking by the board, cracking bad jokes every now and again to keep the mood light. In Jimin's opinion, his personality made up for his subject, Algebra II, which she was not too fond of.

 

Jimin's last class before lunch required that she change classrooms, as the Science and Engineering Hall was a separate, smaller building from the Main Hall where the rest of the classes were held.

 

When the bell rang to signal the end of 3rd period, Professor Paek dismissed them cheerfully and Jimin hurriedly gathered her things before trailing after the other students.

 

She only followed them into the Science Hall as far as the entrance, the group of second years heading for the Chemistry Lab rather than Biology.

 

Jimin, who had taken a grueling course on Chemistry (a class that involved her worst and least favorite subjects: math and science) at her previous school, had been placed with a class of seniors taking Biology instead, preventing her from repeating a lesson.

 

She hesitated as the last of the students filtered into the Chemistry Lab, leaving her alone in the otherwise empty hallway.

 

The Science Hall did not seem much different from the Main Hall, apart from being a bit smaller.

 

The Chemistry Lab was on the immediate left, a large cork board collage of famous chemists and odd facts relating to the subject mounted on the wall opposite it.

 

Jimin wandered a little further down the hall, glancing through the large picture window that looked out over the Athletic Field.

 

She could just barely make out the forms of the students taking their Practical Lessons, each tiny figure accompanied by their Summons, some much larger than others. What looked like a giant squid sat along the side of the field, occasionally squirting large spouts of water at the shrieking crowd of teenagers.

 

A dull pain throbbed within her chest at the sight.

 

Jimin turned her head and continued on.

 

Past the window, the hall separated into two paths, one being a wide staircase lodged between a janitor's office and the windowed wall, and the other a long hallway. As she peered down the hall, Jimin saw no classrooms but two doors and a sign that hung from the ceiling to label them as the restrooms.

 

She looked to the stairwell with confusion.

 

Was the Biology Lab upstairs?

 

It seemed odd to have such a large building house only one small classroom on each floor, but by the standards of the non-Summoning population, Chanu Academy was already strange. Jimin had grown up around Summoners her entire life and knew that several of them often took on their Summons' traits and habits. To her classmates from her previous schools, the ones who were unaware of the Summoning community, her family members came across as rather... eccentric. (She'd always been reluctant to invite her family to school functions because of that.)

 

What's to say that the people who ran the Academy weren't as eccentric, if not more, than the Summoners Jimin had met – enough so that they weren't opposed to wasting large amounts of money on a school building. It wasn't like Chanu was lacking in funds.

 

So Jimin turned and headed up to the second floor, the staircase twisting once before opening to a hallway nearly identical to the first, minus the Chemistry cork board. Rather than a Chemistry Lab, however, there was a room filled with rows of computers – a Computer Lab.

 

A glance down the hall revealed more restrooms.

 

Bewildered, Jimin headed up to the third and last floor.

 

The smell of dust and disuse met her as she pushed open the door, a collection of old anatomical models, broken lab equipment, old televisions and VCRs, and, curiously, a lurid pink jumpsuit, coming into sight.

 

She swore under her breath.

 

She had found the attic.

 

Jimin began to wonder if she was just directionally challenged or somehow in the wrong building.

 

At this point, it did not seem as if Chanu even had a Biology Lab and that the school had made a mistake with her schedule.

 

Which meant that she would arrive late to her Biology class – once she found it – or she would have to head to the Main Office for directions. Neither option sounded particularly appealing and would most likely end with Jimin feeling horribly embarrassed.

 

After a moment of thought, Jimin wandered further in.

 

She was already late to class and had never been fond of subjects like science and math – what did it matter to her if she missed one of those classes?

 

Growing up, Jimin had always thought of attics as one of those places with squeaky floorboards. They always seemed to be like that in movies and creaky floors were one of the requirements of attics, old buildings, stairs and generally anywhere else one might find the need to be sneaky.

 

Jimin, while not trying to be loud, was not exactly sneaking about the attic and was glad that this room failed to meet the standards of 'horror movie'.

 

The floor was firm beneath her feet and bright sunlight filtered in through the small windows along the walls. The ceiling was at a decent height over her head and there were few shadows cast. It did not seem intimidating or dank at all. Just a little dim.

 

As she trailed through the room, Jimin was unable to keep her fingers from trailing over the dusty stacks of old textbooks and reference tomes, thick and practically useless in the presence of computers and high speed internet. A dark smudge of dust clung to her fingers and she rubbed them together with a grimace. _Gross_.

 

A brightly colored VHS box, dulled beneath the grime, caught her attention.

 

Jimin pulled it off the shelf and couldn't help but grin in recognition at the face on the cover.

 

_BILL NYE the Science Guy: DINOSAURS THOSE BIG BONEHEADS!_

 

Her father had a few copies of other VHS tapes like this somewhere in their own attic, relics from his days in America.

 

Jimin put the tape back on the shelf and poked at a plastic skeleton as she passed. She stepped over a stack of small boxes and stumbled as her foot slid across the dust.

 

_**Don't touch that!** _

 

Her arms pinwheeled away from the thick metal stand she had intended on grabbing and she swayed a moment, overbalanced. Her hands finally slammed down on the boxes beneath her and she steadied. She took a deep breath of relief and looked closer at the stand.

 

One of the legs was broken.

 

Jimin winced at the thought of all that metal unbalancing and coming down on top of her and was glad for the warning.

 

She froze, realization hitting her, and then whipped around to look behind her.

 

She was alone in the attic.

 

_**Scared?** _

 

Outside the clouds had moved, blocking the sunlight and suddenly the attic was much darker and the shadows intimidating. The comfortable and easy atmosphere from before had fled, leaving Jimin in a state of unease.

 

She swung her leg back over the boxes and hurried out of the attic, practically slamming the door behind her.

 

* * *

(Fun fact: All dorms look the same and all of the furniture is bolted in place because of an event that happened 30 years ago, involving 2 pidgeons, a duck, and 63 gallons of purple paint.)


End file.
